Amtrak NYC-Boston Through-Service Suspended In Connecticut

Amtrak Acela and Northeast Regional service between New York and Boston was suspended Friday afternoon because of damage to the overhead catenary system that powers trains.

"It's a tree that was not on Amtrak property that fell into our wires," said Steve Kulm, a spokesman for Amtrak. The tree fell in Waterford.

The outage caused several electrically-powered trains to stop moving, stranding passengers. Amtrak crews eventually got those trains moving with diesel engines or by re-energizing the catenary in areas, and passengers were being returned to Amtrak stations.

The railroad also decided Friday afternoon to suspend service on the New York to Boston line until Hurricane Earl passed through. That decision frustrated riders hoping to use Amtrak to go from southwest Connecticut to points south.

"Weather in Boston is one thing," said Jim Tyson of Greenwich, who was trying to get his daughter from the Stamford train station to New Jersey. "Here in Greenwich … there's not a drop. What are they trying to say, people only travel from Penn Station to Boston?" Tyson ended up driving his daughter.

Metro North service was not interrupted. Amtrak service between New Haven and Springfield was also not affected, Kulm said.

The decision Amtrak officials made Thursday afternoon to suspend New York-Boston service was based on the best information the railroad had at 2:30 p.m., Kulm said. Railroad officials were concerned more trains and passengers would be halted as the storm moved through.

"New Haven north, our tracks hug the coast line," Kulm said. "If there's a significant storm surge, our tracks will be washed out. There's also concern that with heavy winds and heavy rains, you could have trees falling into our overhead catenary wire and disrupting service and stopping trains with passengers.

"The key here is the passengers. We didn't want to have our passengers stuck out there."

Shutting down service also enabled the railroad to move equipment it may need to make repairs into better position to make those repairs, Kulm said.

"We don't know if there will be any storm damage until it comes through," Kulm said. Once the storm passes through, Amtrak crews will check the rail line and make necessary repairs before service resumes, he said.

At the train station in New London Friday evening, about 45 people gathered outside, waiting for a Greyhound bus to take them to their destination.

Lydia Hamilton, 40, was there with her mother Elizabeth Hamilton, 72, who live in the area. They were trying to get to New York City to visit relatives for the holiday weekend, they said.

They were supposed to take a train that was to depart New London at 12:45 p.m., but they switched to an Acela train that was leaving later.

The Acela was a short distance from the New London station, they said, when it stopped. They were stuck on the train for four hours. Eventually, a member of the train's crew announced they'd be returning to New London.

"They said, well when you get back to the station you're going to buy a bus ticket, get a cab, rent a car, do whatever you need to do to get to your destination," Lydia Hamilton said.

Shortly after 6 p.m., the Hamiltons and about 40 others — including a group of Coast Guard Academy students — jostled onto a bus.

Amtrak will release additional information Hurricane Earl and its impact on Amtrak through its website, Amtrak.com, Twitter and Facebook. People can call 1-800-USA-RAIL for train status updates.